Bob Kelly will remember all the laughs he shared with Ed Van Impe, a Flyers Hall of Famer who died Tuesday night at the age of 84.
He'll remember the pranks. Oh, and the gaffes.
Like when the Flyers were playing the Scouts and Van Impe took out some retribution mistakingly on Guy Charron, leaving the Kansas City forward in pain for no real reason.
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SIGN UP HERE "Eddie's out there, he's swearing coming to the bench," Kelly, Van Impe's former teammate, recalled. "I said, 'Eddie, what's the matter? What's the matter, Eddie?' He goes, 'I speared the wrong guy.'"
Poor Charron.
"I said, 'Well, that's not going to help him, Eddie, he's buckled over, he can hardly even skate to get off the ice,'" Kelly said with a laugh.
Van Impe's heart was in the right place.
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"He meant everything to the Flyers' organization," Kelly said Thursday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. "He was an absolute gentleman. Nothing like spearing you in the face or something like that, but he was an actual gentleman out there. He led by example. ... Nothing fazed Eddie, he was always on time, a true gentleman to help out."
The second captain in franchise history, Van Impe was an original Flyer, playing on the inaugural 1967-68 club. He spent parts of nine seasons in Philadelphia, including 1973-74 and 1974-75, when the Flyers won their back-to-back Stanley Cups.
"Ed was an invaluable leader on the blue line, known for his determined play and hard-hitting style that helped the Broad Street Bullies captivate a city and its fans," the Flyers said in part of a statement. "He will always hold a special place in the hearts of the Flyers organization. We offer our deepest condolences to his teammates, who had the privilege to play beside him, and his family and friends who were close to him during this difficult time."
Flyers Hall of Famer and former teammate Joe Watson was able to recently visit Van Impe and his wife Diane outside of Vancouver. Kelly said Van Impe and Watson were sidekicks on those historic Flyers teams.
"Pranksters at heart, big time," Kelly said. "They kept things going, kept things going strong."
Kelly remembers his "initiation" when he joined the Flyers in 1970-71. Van Impe even orchestrated a fake arrest (read more about it here from Bill Meltzer on FlyersHistory.com).
"I got pranked really good," Kelly said. "An awesome, 'Welcome to the team, kid.'"
Van Impe is widely known for his hit on Valeri Kharlamov in 1976 when the Flyers beat the Soviet Red Army at the Spectrum.
"It was a great hit," Kelly said. "I think he speared him first before he got him again, whatever it was, it was a tug-of-war. Eddie just absolutely hated him. And he led by example, so a lot of guys just followed suit."
With pranks or hits, Van Impe looked after his young teammates.
"Following him seemed to be the right direction, so we had a lot of laughs over the years, a lot of joking and prodding with each other," Kelly said. "He's going to be sorely missed."